This was a SLICK cops-n-robbers, cat-n-mouse caper movie. Lau Ching-Wan is great as the standard cop with personal family problems up the ying-yang, but does his best to carry on the investigation to the best of his ability. The cop/robber relationship reminded me of Pacino/DeNiro in "Heat", but DeNiro was never this crazy. The one who truly stole the show was Francis Ng. I don't say this about many HK actors (except Anthony Wong in like 90% of his roles), but his performance in this movie CREEPED ME OUT. He definitely pulled off the "psychopathic criminal mastermind" to a T as he planned his proverbial last job. Some slick suspense scenes during the heist (underwater too!), realistically violent (I love John Woo, but...), and the end I thought was truly a heartbreaker. Ringo Lam's best film ever.